Question of the Week: Can You Do an Iron Man Reading Order?

Iron Man has become remarkably popular since the Robert Downey Juniorfication of the character in 2008’s MCU debut. So naturally, I saved his reading order for last among the founding Avengers (#timelycomics).

Here it is in all it’s glory. The Iron Man reading order!

Iron Man Reading Order

I) Invincible Iron Man Origins!

Avengers #1 occurs after Tales of Suspense #44. Avengers #4 after Tales of Suspense #51. This is Iron Man’s first run with the Avengers as a founding Avenger. As you very well know, Iron Man will continue with the Avengers in and out throughout the next 50-plus years of Marvel continuity (and may he for 50 more!). Much like the Thor reading order, I will not be detailing every Avengers appearance. If you’re jones-ing for Avengers specific reading, there’s always my Avengers guide for that.

II) Iron Man Enters the 70’s Through Demon in a Bottle

Iron Man’s first solo title begins in 1968. 70’s conclude with Iron Man “Demon in a Bottle,” issues #120 to #128, which you’ll see included in the David Michilinie run on Iron Man below. Issue #55 of Invincible Iron Man is notable for the first appearance of Thanos!

III) West Coast Avengers & Armor Wars

Denny O’Neil (of Green Arrow / Green Lantern ‘Hard Travellin’ Heroes’, and Batman fame) wrote a sustained Invincible Iron Man. This time period deals with Stark’s alcoholism in much greater detail, giving us both James Rhodes as Iron Man, and Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges’ villain from the first Iron Man movie). Culminates in the Iron Monger storyline. I’d also note that issue #197 is a Secret Wars II tie-in.

Iron Man plays a prominent role with the West Coast Avengers, as you’ll see in this initial four issue miniseries (the title would launch again for a more sustained period in 1985). Unfortunately, Marvel Unlimited’s West Coast library is extremely limited.

I’ll be skipping a big chunk of the 90’s Iron Man for a few reasons, namely I’m not as familiar with these comics and they lead to “The Crossing” which is an absolute mess of an Avengers crossover. That said, Iron Man #305 features some sweet Hulkbuster action (technically begins in Iron Man #304).

V) Iron Man Enters the 2000’s

Poorly collected, oft-overlooked Iron Man comics leading up to Avengers Disassembled. In my experience, these aren’t really hidden gems, but there are some interesting concepts at play, such as Tony Stark working as the United States Secretary of Defense (issues #73 to #78).

Warren Ellis and Adi Granov crafted “Extremis” with their opening 6 issues. It’s one of my absolute favorite Iron Man storylines, and the basis of Iron Man in the MCU and the character as we tend to know him today.

VII) Iron Man in Civil War and SHIELD

Iron Man is one of the two most important players in Civil War, taking a stand against Captain America and company. In addition to Civil War and the Iron Man tie-ins below, I recommend Civil War: Frontline, Iron Man/Captain America: Casualties of War, and Amazing Spider-Man for the full look at Tony Stark’s time in Civil War.

This feels like a hoax, but a four issue Marvel Knights story from Jon Favreau (director of 2008’s Iron Man) and Adi Granov. First issue cover is basically Marvel U exploitative cheesecake, so if that’s your bag…

IX) Marvel NOW! Iron Man

The Marvel NOW! guide will give you all Iron Man comics from 2012 to 2015. Be sure to also include Guardians of the Galaxy, as Iron Man plays a central role in the early issues. Likewise, Avengers and New Avengers will find Stark back in his Illuminati mode, and are very essential in leading to Secret Wars.

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About Dave

Dave is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Comic Book Herald, and also the Boss of assigning himself fancy titles. He’s a long-time comic book fan, and can be seen most evenings in Batman pajama pants. Contact Dave @comicbookherald on Twitter or via email at dave@comicbookherald.com.

Like other old, grouchy Iron Fans here I’ve got to stand up for Len Kaminski’s run. Though a lot of comic fans gloss over it ask any Iron Man fanatic and they’ll probably tell you it was one of their favorite stretches in the comic’s history. You’ve got War Machine and the Hulkbuster on the big screen these days, both created by Kaminski and Kev Hopgood who are nowhere to be found in comics today. Dudes get no respect because they got into the industry in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For me anyway, it was one of the best comics of that awkward period in the 90’s. If you liked the War Machine and Hulkbuster issues you should read the rest because it’s all great. So few writers handle the technology and business side of the character so well. He really got into Tony Stark’s head.

But yeah then The Crossing and Heroes Reborn happened to ruin everything for the next several years until Kurt Busiek pulled Tony and the rest of the Avengers out of the ashes.

Hey!! First off, I am ecstatic that I have stumbled upon your site. Great work! Thanks for taking the time to construct so many easy-to-follow guides for lost individuals such as myself!

I’m relatively new to actually reading the comic books, so I just have a curiosity question for you, likely followed by many more in the future! 🙂

Given the fact that I haven’t read the Marvel Comics Timeline as a whole, is it okay to start with individual characters, such as Iron Man? Or do you recommend starting with the whole Marvel timeline??

You probably went and figured your own way out already, but yeah, it’s fine to just read a single character. But I’d say figure out what characters and writers you like so when it comes to events, you can decide what tie-ins you want to read.

And echoing RJA’s sentiments, the Kaminski issues are actually pretty decent. Much better then the concurrent Avengers issues under Harris. But then afterward comes Terry Kavanagh’s run leading up to Heroes Reborn which is just bad.

It’s funny- after a rough start in the 60s/70s, Iron Man really has one of the better runs of consecutive quality writers of the big Marvel books (Michilinie, O’Neil, Michilinie, Bryne, Mr. Kaminski).

I know it was meant tongue-in-cheek, but the 90s were not “a weird time for us all”. A lot of my favorite Marvel comics came out from 1990 to 1994. And the Len Kaminski run on Iron Man (he left just before the regrettable Crossing tie-ins; IIRC, his last issue was 319 or 320) has a lot more going for it than just War Machine or the introduction of the Hulkbuster armor. He brought back Bethany Cabe, for one thing. Iron Man 280-300 in particular are favorites of mine. I know you said you’re not familiar with most of Kaminski’s run, so I hope you will give it a fair chance in the future.

Totally fair, I really do need to give this time period more attention. I actually love a lot of what I’ve read from here, and almost nothing makes me happier than back issue ads for early 90’s NBA Gameboy games.

The “weird time” bit is much more targeted to the ‘Heroes Return’ issues towards the end of the section. I really like those Hulkbuster issues 🙂